Blood test can detect signs of knee condition 8 years before X-rays

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

A simple blood test can detect early warning signs of a painful condition up to eight years before it appears on X-rays.

The accuracy of the test that identifies tell-tale signs of knee osteoarthritis has been validated by researchers.

They say early detection could lead to treatments that slow the progression of the most common form of arthritis suffered by millions of people.

While there are currently no cures, American researchers say the success of potential new therapies could hinge on identifying the disease early and slowing its progression before it becomes debilitating.

The team from Duke University School of Medicine validated the accuracy of the blood test that identifies key biomarkers of osteoarthritis.

They showed that it predicted development of the disease, as well as its progression, which was demonstrated in earlier work by the same team.

Current methods often don’t identify the disease until it has caused structural damage to the joint.

Senior author Professor Virginia Byers Kraus said: “Currently, you’ve got to have an abnormal x-ray to show clear evidence of knee osteoarthritis, and by the time it shows up on x-ray, your disease has been progressing for some time.

“What our blood test demonstrates is that it’s possible to detect this disease much earlier than our current diagnostics permit.”

Kraus and her team focused on developing molecular biomarkers that can be used for both clinical diagnostic purposes as well as a research tool to help develop effective drugs.

In previous studies, the blood biomarker test was 74 percent accurate in predicting knee osteoarthritis progression and 85 percent accurate in diagnosing it.

The new study, published in the journal Science Advances, further honed the test’s predictive capabilities.

Using a British database, the researchers analyzed the serum of 200 women, half diagnosed with osteoarthritis and half who didn't have it.

They found that a small number of biomarkers in the blood test successfully distinguished the women with the problem, catching molecular signals of osteoarthritis eight years before many of the women were diagnosed using X-rays.

Kraus said: “This is important because it provides more evidence that there are abnormalities in the joint that can be detected by blood biomarkers well before x-rays can detect osteoarthritis."

She added: “Early-stage osteoarthritis could provide a ‘window of opportunity’ in which to arrest the disease process and restore joint health.”